


My Darling - My Muse

by VictoriaLe



Category: Ocean's 8 (2018)
Genre: Amnesia, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Team Bonding, Team Dynamics, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:40:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26173618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VictoriaLe/pseuds/VictoriaLe
Summary: One day, Rose didn't show up. Daphne gone sick worrying.Past mistake and misunderstanding. Would this be Daphne's redemption or would everything go down in flame?"If there was a second chance, would you let me love you right?"- "Darling, I will give you every chances in the whole world."
Relationships: Daphne Kluger/Rose Weil, Lou Miller & Debbie Ocean
Comments: 5
Kudos: 36





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> \--- Long live Art Wives ---

She was so tired…

Lying alone on the cold street in the middle of December made her remember how pathetic she was.

Ignoring the blood oozing from her open wounds, the woman laughed bitterly. What a fitting ending for the faith of her. She mused. Her eyes started to blur. Must be something about the blood lost or whatsoever. She didn’t mind a tiny bit. Her thought drifted to a vision she had always dreamt of before closing her eyes. The stunning figure of a certain Starlet appeared in her dream; with a dazzling smile she’d seen so many time before. Her muse…

With the sight of Daphne Kluger painted in her mind, with the “sorry” full of regret on her lips, Rose Weil passed out on the deserted street no one visited on such a foggy day.

\---

“Something is wrong.”

Daphne strutted through the door of Lou’s estate with little care of the unhinged door she left behind. Her utterly perfect pose was slouched and the spotless dress she wore was slightly cringed. If that wasn’t disastrous enough, she lost one of her shoe.

The movie star’s usually twinkling eyes were dull and tired. They never once left the phone for just even a second to greet all the ladies in the house. As she blindly walked to her usual spot, which was located right beside the comfy but empty settee belonged to Rose Weil, she kept mumbling something about something was wrong, something happened.

She didn’t seem to listen when Tammy called her name. Her unoccupied hand relentlessly rubbed her chest as if she was in pain, but she didn’t seem to know she was doing that either. Daphne Kluger looked like she was just being struck by a car.

And her demeanor started to freak people out.

“What’s with her?” Constance skated out of the kitchen with a coke in her hand, followed by Amita. The former carelessly waving around while noticing the weird vibe forming in the living room as the later busied herself setting the dinner table.

Everyone was just staring at the disheveled starlet. Tammy wore a worried expression on her face and Debbie just scowled disapprovingly. Probably because of the banging noise Daphne made, or the splash Constance had just spilled on the wooden floor. Who knew?

At Daphne’s third attempts to call someone in desperation, Nine Ball spoked up: “S’pose it’s not because of her face was plastered all over the news for turning into a Cinderella?” The hacker turned the computer for Debbie and Lou to see the footage of Daphne stumbling across the street, lacking a shoe on her right foot. “gal, y’know I can take ‘em down in a sec.”

That earned Nine Ball a brief questioning look from the Starlet, but it didn’t last long. She resumed typing with urgent. Her sculptured eyebrows were scrunched up and little once in awhile, she kept letting out tiny whimpers. Her forehead was clammy because of all the sweat. And if people observed carefully, she was incredibly pale and skinny behind all the makeups and glamour she was wearing.

Daphne Kluger looked like she had just gone through hell.

Finally, it was Lou who decided that she would have none of that any longer and approached the frighten movie-star. Different from Debbie who gave others the unapproachable vibe, Lou could be very calming and soothing. Also, the blonde did have her ways with words, so that was why she is everyone’s favorite.

“Hey”

At the soft voice of Lou, Daphne raised her head up and met Lou’s ocean eyes. Through the tousled hair, her bambi hues were frozen in worried and somewhat fear, but mostly anger. The gang had never seen Daphne being like this – speechless. But now she was. And whatever trouble she's having, it was sure to be a damn serious problem.

“What's wrong?” Lou eyed Daphne worriedly, then focused on the star's phone. The screen was still buzzing with new messages and stuffs. But what had caught Lou's attention was the very familiar name linked with the word ‘missing'.

“Seriously, Daphne. What is going on!?”

The movie-star narrowed her eyes before barking out an unusual maniac laugh.

“What is wrong? What is bloody hecking wrong indeed!” Daphne frustratedly raked her hand through her hair with little care. “Rose is fucking missing! That’s what is wrong!”

“What!?” Six different voices ringed in unison.

Amita dropped the plate she was holding, and Constance instantly felt of her skateboard in shock.

“How are you so sure?” Debbie Ocean spoke up for the first time.

“Yeah, I mean, Rose always seem busy. Maybe she’s out of the country doing business, or go passion hunt, or whatsoever.” Tammy chimed in. “She missed our girl’s night twice already.”

“The gal has a brand tuh run, hun.” Nine Ball waved dismissively. Her attention returned to her beloved computer.

Daphne let out a scoff in disbelieve.

“I can’t fucking believe you all called yourself her friends!” The movie star snatched her phone from Lou’s hand and started to storm out of the estate. This time, she kicked off her remained shoe as she tried to kick the front door open. She’s wasting her time here. She should find Rose. She had a feeling that if she didn’t figure this out, Rose would be in danger.

As she almost got out, she was caught by a gentle grip. “Tell us why you think she’s missing.” Again, it was Lou. Lou with a concerned look on her face. The damn look that Daphne expected from all the ladies in there, all those who supposed to be Rose’s family. Rose considered them as a family. How could they act like that?

“If she’s missing, Nine can do something about it. But first, you should sit down. Take a deep breath. I’ll bring you a cup of coffee and we will start from there, yeah?”

Daphne carefully considered Lou’s words. It’s true. Her agents proved to be a bunch of idiots that couldn’t do shit but track a missing phone. Nine Ball was her best shot. These women were her best shot to get to Rose. Her dearest Rose…

So Daphne took Lou’s offer and sipped that deviously good beverage Lou made. That woman had a talent. Okay, more than one, but this, this one was probably the best thing she could do that didn’t involve crime activities.

“Now, why do you think Rose is missing?” Daphne could feel Debbie’s stare with such intensity and focus, the same stare she had confidently held not long ago when Debbie confronted her about the Toussaint. The woman had that powerful vibe, but Daphne was never the one to cower, either.

So the movie star sent Debbie a direct look in return: “First of all, Rose has never missed our annual dinner, until two weeks ago. At that exact same week, she rescheduled our dress-fitting on Wednesday for the private party of Victoria Secret show to the following day. I came to her shop; she was never there. She never answered any calls. Not from me, not from her employees. None.”

On Debbie’s indifferent face, Daphne could spot a little scowl right there. Years and years in the Hollywood, she could easily read people's poker faces. Deborah Ocean was good, but not good enough to cross Daphne Kluger. That frown proved that Daphne was right. Debbie too seemed to sense something strange in the whole ordeal.

“The poor woman could forget her phone or something. She does that all the time.” Nine cocked her head to a side. Daphne mimicked her posture then shook her head.

“That’s what I thought at that time. So I came by her house and wait for her. She was so excited to show me the dress. We worked together for a long enough time to know the secret code. Rose could lost track of time, so she gave me her passcode to her new apartment in case I couldn’t reach her. And she’d always come back. Never once have I seen her stayed out all night.”

Lou nodded in confirm. Rose had stayed with her in this estate for a long time and indeed, Rose was not the stray type.

Daphne unconsciously gnawed her lips, she continued: “Her phone wasn’t there. It wasn't at the shop, either. No one could reach her. So I thought she had some kind of urgent that drove her out of town. But that’s the part where I was wrong.”

“Several days later, I came back to her shop only to find her very frantic assistant. The poor girl was scared out of her mind when she said her boss was nowhere to be seen and she missed 7 meetings with potential customers already.”

“Now that’s strange.” Tammy mumbled, she eyed the empty chair of Rose, deep in thoughts. “Our girl would never do such thing. She was a picture perfect of hardworking. She loves her job.”

“Indeed. Rose would never miss anything. And I remember she told me something about working on her new collection. So, she’d never disappear like this. This is not like Rose, at all.”

Drummed her fingers on the table, Debbie hummed.

“When was that exactly?” She simply asked. The concern was clear on her once emotionless face.

Daphne rubbed her eyes. She was so tired: “It’s been a week since that day. I have been working with my best agents and try to track her down. No record. It’s like she’s turned into smoke.”

“And it took you a week to come here why?”

The Ocean Woman's anger was visible. Daphne gritted her teeth. 

“Why? Because I fucking thought I could find her!” Daphne stood up abruptly. The cup she was holding was sent flying to the wall. “Because I thought some of you would fucking notice!” Her hands were shaking. “Because, I don’t fucking know, I was in my fucking apartment, all the fucking week, to try to call her and pray that she’d pick up her damn phone and tell me I’m silly to worry! That’s fucking why, Debbie!”

Daphne felt as though hot and cold took turn and shot through her body. She felt as though she was going to throw up.

“Because I thought maybe it doesn’t have to come to this…”

Her vision got blurry. The pain in her chest constricted painfully more than ever before. She collapsed to the ground. If it wasn’t for Tammy, Daphne would fell face first on the wooden floor. Too much for not eating. Daphne thought bitterly.

“Jesus, how long have you been starving yourself!? You’re all skin and bone right now!” Daphne faintly heard Tammy’s voice chastising her. That reminded her of Rose. The woman always made sure she didn’t skip her meals. Rose would sneak her some snacks whenever they’re in the fitting room. One day it was some sweet potato fries, the other day, it would be the best desert in NY. Rose never let her leave with an empty stomach. Rose never let her go without a smile on her face…

Rose…

Daphne whimpered. Her eyes glazed over.

“We will find her.”

That’s all Debbie Ocean said before she turned to Nine Ball. They put Daphne on the couch and told her to rest while most of them gathered behind Nine to see if there’s anything new. Amita reappeared from the kitchen with a bow of soup, forcing Daphne to finish. The starlet had to admit, the smell was delicious. But as she swallowed a few first spoons, her stomach twisted painfully.

“I can’t. Amita.” She mumbled.

“You can. You need all the strength you have, Daph. For Rose.” Amita’s kind brown eyes twinkled a little at the word ‘Rose’ and Daphne smiled. Yes, for Rose…

Spoon after spoon she tried, her body started to relax and reused to the amount of food she ingested. Daphne let out a sigh.

“So… How long have you been having a thing for our girl?” Amita quietly asked. But Daphne jumped as if she was being slapped across the face.

All she managed to say was: “W…What do you mean?”

“It was painful to watch, the way you look at her, but Rose doesn’t know, does she?” Daphne just looked at Amita incredulously. She couldn’t answer the question, because she was wondering it herself.

There were several sighs from the others. Daphne could feel her face heated up in nervous. She couldn’t be that obvious, could she? If she was so easy so read, Did that mean Rose also know? Did Rose know? Daphne gnawed her lips again. Her heart was beating frantically in her chest as if it was going to burst out of her poor ribcage. Oh God…

“Easy there. Movie star. Rose doesn’t know.”

Lou shook her head saying. Her eyes were full of accusation.

“What!?” Daphne snapped. She was in panic. And why was Lou looking at her like that?

“The poor girl didn’t know anything, because she was too scare to look at you.” Lou’s voice was loud and clear. Tammy sighed as though she knew where this was going. “She didn’t have any clue because she thought you are still holding grudge with her since the heist.”

“Wha…Why?!” Daphne cried out in desperation. How could it be? They worked together! Daphne was with her all the time! Tried to spend as much time as possible with her, tried to find excuses after excuses to meet her. How could Rose possibly think Daphne still held the grudge?

She looked around, begging someone to give her the answer. She couldn’t get it. She just couldn’t…

Lou refused to speak. Daphne knew one thing about Lou. Lou actually cared about Rose. She was there for Rose all the time. Daphne heard the story about how Rose came to trust Lou. Rose once said Lou always gave the warmest hug. She once said Lou was always the one who checked on her when she stayed at their hideout, was the one who calmed her nerves and the one who helped her to bed every night when she passed out sewing on the couch. Somehow, Lou cared enough for Rose to consider her family. And somehow, Lou certainly felt the same.

So whatever Daphne did, that seemed to tick Lou off.

“So she has forgotten all about it…” Constance whispered to herself, but somehow it was loud enough for everyone to hear it.

“Forget what?”

Even when the missing memories started to trickle back, Daphne still couldn’t form the whole story. Whatever she had done, it was bad. It was fucking bad. And it had to be on the first girl’s night when she was hammered by Lou’s pure Vodka. That had to be it. That had to be that day. Because she could still remember the following morning. She could still remember that Rose was nowhere to be found and no one seemed to want to look at her in the eyes despite the fact that they had a blast the night before.

Took pity on Daphne, Amita reminded her: “You remember our first dinner together after the heist, yeah?” Daphne could only nod. “You were terribly drunk. Well, to be fair, we all were. But girl, you were hammered. You started to talk, like, a lot. And a lot of them were about Rose. We have never seen Rose so scared and sad. Even Lou couldn’t talk her to stay the night. The poor lady just walked out and disappeared.”

“The following day, when she came back, she was eerily calm. She asked us not to act different with you, so no one did. Lou was mad, but Rose brushed it off, said it was just your drunken words, that it didn’t affect her much, but it clearly did, at some levels.”

Tammy added with a sigh.

At Lou’s scrutinizing gaze, all the memories came back with a vengeance. All the details, all those words she’d said rang in her ears like a bell. It was like all hell broke loose and Daphne could only stand there, unable to speak. It was like she was brought back to that very moment, that faithful moment when she screwed up her whole relationship with the woman who she somehow fell head over heels for.

_It was the day they chose to celebrate their newfound ‘friendship’._

_All of them were so happy. There was alcohol that flowed like river. Vodka, Tequila, Rum, and some special Martini for the Mastermind. Curtesy of Lou, of course._

_They were happy, and all of them were having a little bit too much._

_Especially Daphne_

_Daphne was having a night of her life. All the drinking and dancing, all the things she couldn’t do when attending other parties, she did it here. And it was damn wild. She couldn’t remember how much vodka she’d inhaled, but she was sure that it was a shit ton of them. Her head was just started to spin when she felt a small but strong, calloused hands held her still._

_Those hands, Daphne could recognize anytime. Those talented hands that never once stung her with all the fucking pins in the dress. Those strong hands that had caressed her neck, had held her hair in such tenderness and felt like a perfect fit laying in hers, were belonged to no other than Rose Weil._

_Daphne vaguely heard Rose’s warm voice whispered, told her to stop. That Irish lilt never cease to amaze her. Such sophisticated, beautiful thing was oh so soft, oh so ‘Rose’ that all Daphne had ever wanted was to fall, falling like little Alice following the call of the wicked wonderland. And fall she did. She fell in Rose’s arms. She let herself fall with little fear to crash, just because she knew Rose was right behind, ready to catch her._

_And that frighten her to no end._

_It was stupid of her, to have feeling for the one who tricked her in the very beginning. Daphne didn’t know when it started. Was it when she suddenly noticed the earnest when Rose talked about her love for fashion? When her wild, chocolate hues lit up like a million stars in the sky as she saw Daphne in the dress she made? When she caressed and held Daphne in such softness and loving and reassurance not even Daphne’s mum can give her?_

_Or was it when Rose could notice her loneliness like no one else could? Was it because Rose was the only one who noticed she was so very thin and started to bring her treats after treats to keep her nourished? Or was it because Rose was the one, and only, who could bring her back to the reality when panic attack threatened to overwhelm her. Rose, though hectic, was soft, and reliable. Rose was warm, and strong. Rose was the closest one she had as a friend. Rose was the only one she trusted._

_Somehow, Rose had become her rock, and then tender, she fell._

_She fell with uncertainty and ‘what ifs’ lurking in the shadow, ready to shred her love and throwing it into the oblivion._

_What if she falls, and Rose was nowhere to be found?_

_What if she falls, and from the rabbit hole, she could never reach the ground?_

_What if she confesses, and Rose would never come around?_

_What if she bares her heart, and Rose would again lie and let her down?_

_Her heart ached painfully at the thought of Rose lying to her._

_‘It wasn’t fair.’ Daphne thought. She let her soul open for Rose and Rose lied. She hid all her life and just as she thought Rose was the light, Rose lied. Daphne wondered, so many times, how much of what Rose had said to her was real? How many percent of the caring was from her heart and not from the guidance of Debbie and Lou? How many percent of those kind, loving caress came because Rose wanted to?_

_She wondered, did Rose really care? Or was Daphne just a pet project that Rose needed to win over? Did Rose mean it when she said everything she said, or it’s just her following the script like all Hollywood acting? Daphne could notice bad acting, but Rose? She couldn’t. Either it was because Rose really meant it, or she was a damn good actress, and fucking liar._

_Daphne was so drunk. And only she was drunk had she had the strength to ask the woman the question. So she turned around in the arm of the women she loved and stared death into the chocolate orbs she came to like and fired her question._

_“Are you a liar, Rose?” Daphne cocked her head and watched as Rose’s expression morphed into horror. The designer instantly let go of Daphne’s waist as she tried to back off, but Daphne would have none of it. She pressed at Rose, invaded the poor woman’s personal space._

_“Was it a lie? Everything you told me! Was it an act? Every time you touched me! How many girls, Rose? How many of them have you lied to without even thinking of how they might feel?! How many of them!? That had your hands ran over their bodies just to make them believe in your lies!”_

_Daphne cried out, not noticing everyone was looking at her, not noticing Rose was shaking like a leaf and white as a ghost. She pounded the woman’s chest with her clenched fists, unbeknown that Rose was wincing in pain. But as painful as it was, Rose never dodge away._

_All Rose said was “I’m sorry, love… I’m terribly sorry…”_

_Daphne was drunk, so she didn’t notice the tears that run freely on Rose’s paper white cheeks. She didn’t even saw all the scratches she had made with her ring on the woman neck and bosom. She didn’t, until Lou yelled at her and snagged her away from a very broken, trembling Rose._

_The look in Rose’s eyes sent Daphne into a shock wave. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t move. The utterly defeated and self-hatred that evident in her chocolate orbs were ripping Daphne apart._

_‘No… This was not what I want… no….’ Daphne fought Lou’s iron grip._

_‘No… Rose… I’m sorry’ She was kicking and screaming but Constance and Lou held her down._

_“Let me go!!!” Her blood curling scream was the last straw._

_Rose ripped her shirt trying to get out of Tammy’s hold and ran off._

_Rose was gone…_

_“Let me go!!!” I need to find Rose, Daphne wanted to say._

_“Let me go!!!” let me make it right, Daphne wanted to beg._

_“Please don’t go” Daphne could only wail._

_Rose…_

_Please Rose…_

And everything came after that was a blur. She remembered Debbie appeared with a syringe in her hand. She remembered Tammy had to pull Lou out of her to stop the blonde from yelling at her. She remembered Amita came back empty-handed. She couldn’t find Rose. And she remembered, she only stopped screaming when Debbie put her to sleep.

All those horrid memories flooded Daphne’s mind.

She broke down crying.

That’s why when Daphne asked Rose to work with her, Rose was terrified. That’s why after so long, working together, Rose was still so timid with her, never once touched her like she used to, never once breaking any promises. That’s the reason why their relationship had always felt so distant. Whenever Daphne tried to come closer, Rose would shy away. Whenever Daphne wanted to be with Rose, Rose would keep her distance.

Daphne once thought it was because Rose was not interested in her, in a relationship.

But apparently, It was her who fucked everything up.

It was her who drove Rose away at the first place.

It was her own foolishness and her own fucking insecurity that hurt Rose more than anything.

She didn’t deserve Rose.

Because she was a fool.

The truth was: Daphne knew Rose wasn’t acting at the beginning. The woman was just too awkward, too sweet. The warmth in Rose’s eyes when she looked at Daphne was so loving and caring to be fake. Daphne knew that Rose would never break her heart.

At least, Sober Daphne knew. But Drunk Daphne didn’t.

Fuck. Fuck her for being an asshole to the woman she loved.

Fuck. Daphne let out a pained laugh. If anything happened to Rose, she’d fucking kill herself.

Rose was fine. She had to be. Because Daphne had a plan to spend the rest of her fucking life make it up for Rose. Because Daphne needed Rose…

Please God…

Daphne didn’t know she was shaking until Amita touched her shoulder. The small act of comfort threw her off balance. She took in a shaky breath then raised her head up. All the girls gathered around her, even Lou and Debbie. They all looked at her with sympathy in their eyes. Except for Lou. Her icy mask was on. But she was still here. That’s her best way to reassure Daphne that everything between them was ok. Daphne knew it.

It’s not easy to earn forgiveness. She sighed and met Lou’s eyes.

All she could do was mouthed “I’m sorry” and Lou only nodded in return.

Their eye contact didn’t last very long. Lou quickly turned away and averted her eyes to look at Debbie. Instantly, the Ocean lady shifted to seek Lou in return. Daphne could practically see the way these two communicated with each other through their exchanged glances. She didn’t know if it had anything to deal with their long-term partnership, or they just clicked in a strange sort of way, like soulmates.

From the first time she met Lou Miller and Debbie Ocean, Daphne had thought that they were a couple. The sexual tension, the frustration that radiated around them was so unbearable. She could see the longing in Lou’s eyes and the guilt in Debbie’s faraway gaze. She could feel the hesitation of Lou every time the Ocean woman got too close. There weird push and pull game was painful to watch. But maybe that’s their thing. Both of them understood each other so deeply that these knowledge made them scare. So they danced around, waiting for the other to make the first move. Waiting… Waiting…

Until one of them crack.

But Daphne was not a patient woman.

Daphne could not just back off, when every fibre of her heart was screaming Rose’s name. She could not stand down, when her soul yearned for Rose’s touch, for as much intimacy which was never be enough. Even though it hurt quite a lot, when Rose always run.

But Daphne had made peace with herself long ago. It’s okay if Rose didn’t want her like she wanted Rose, She could reign her untamed heart, could break her already broken soul, just for a moment to be together with her Rose. Because little did they know, every second with Rose was the treasure she wanted to keep forever in her hold.

Either being friends, or worse, turning to foes, Daphne would always find another reason to get back to Rose.

Daphne didn’t recognize that she was once again lost deep in her thoughts until Debbie’s voice shook her out of the oblivion. Their leader was now having her game face on. That’s a good sign, Daphne mused. The burden in her chest felt lighter somehow.

“Nine, can you look into all the traffic cameras near Rose’s apartment and studio? The girl is a workaholic, so let’s start there.” Debbie said as she unconciously rubbed her chin.

Nine immediately took out her laptop: “I’m on it.”

“Also, look for the plane ticket or boat or ferry, just in case she flew out of town.” Tammy added.

“Sure, no biggie.” The hacker was typing furiously. Lots and lots of stuffs popped up on her screen. Her eyebrows srunched up in focus.

The others knew better to disturb Nine Ball at this point, so they kept their distance and patiently wait for the result. But Daphne couldn’t sit still. She kept pacing around and inspected her phone each and every second.

‘Please Rose... Pick up your phone...’ Daphne silently prayed as she tried to call Rose’s cell for a thousand and one time. No signal. Again. It’s been two weeks! Daphne’s heart pounded in her chest like crazy. If Rose lost her phone somewhere, She would bought a new one and contact her assistant by now.

Shit.

“So apparently, according to the cameras, Rose was at her studio on Wednesday’s morning until she hurriedly took a cab and went off to god knows where.”

Nine showed them the footage of a very frantic Rose Weil running out of her shop, stopping several cars while she tried to wave a cab. She quickly scrambled in with little care of the small ruckus she had just made. And just like that, the cab was gone. That was it.

“Did she come back?” Lou squinted at the screen, no doubt trying to find some clues.

Nine shook her head: “I checked all of the footages from that day till now, no sign of Rose. She didn’t come back to her apartment either.” More tapping on the laptop and then Nine spoke again: “I also checked the ticket and her bank account… Here it is!”

Everyone gathered around Nine in an instant. All eyes on the screen.

“She did purchase a train ticket back to NY from Southampton. But the due date was two weeks ago. She was supposed to be back in New York on Thursday of the same week.” Nine mumbled. “Whatever it was, she was trying to solve it quick and came back as soon as possible.”

“Because she had an appointment with me on Thursday night.” Daphne blankly stated. Her stomach lurched and she felt like she was going to throw up right there and then as she realized the worst thing she had imagined had happened. Rose was in trouble…

“Are there any changes in her bank account?” Debbie suddenly asked.

Nine scrolled throw some pages before shaking her head: “Not that I know of. The Switzerland account was only used to buy a train ticket. She didn’t use it anymore.”

At that, Lou’s fist clenched.

“Rose never has cash with her… She used her card for everything because she afraid that she’d lost track of her money if they were in cash.” Lou kept saying in a small voice. “It’s been two weeks already…” The worried in her voice was evident. Debbie had the same anxious look. The two shared a wordless glance.

Daphne was on a verge of explode. She was here, worried sick about Rose and Debbie and Lou just asking about money! God! What was so important about the money?! They needed to find Rose. Rose was the priority. Fuck all the money. The movie star gritted her teeth as she tried to ground herself not to snap at these two again. She instead trying to focus on her almost hyperventilated breathing. Rose… What happened to Rose?

Daphne almost missed it when Tammy voiced her worried with a shaking tone: “It’s been two weeks, and she didn’t use her card… then where did she stayed? What did she eat? The woman once told me that she doesn’t have any friends in Hamptons… So how can she cope?”

From the look on Debbie and Lou’s faces, they confirmed the theory of Tammy and sealed the faith of Daphne’s worst fear: Rose was missing, and she didn’t have the access to her own money. That put the situation in so many different fucked up possibilities. That meant, Rose could have been kidnapped, or stuck in a middle of an accident, or worse…

Daphne swallowed thickly. 

“Let me check all the road cameras, I’ll try to find her cab’s number and then we will see…” Daphne saw Nine – the always compose Nine Ball – was shaking a little. It was like, even Nine Ball was afraid of what she might find when she tracked down the whole thing.

The process took a very long time and it was very complicated. No wonder Daphne’s agent couldn’t get to it. Nine had to break through the firewall and everything, hacked into the police security’s system to try to seek a tiny file from a hundred millions cams to find Rose. Nine even scanned all the near by ATM’s cameras just to make sure. After several hours looking for the right footage, 3 different cameras showed the image of Rose and her cab. Unfortunately, the angles of them were shitty enough, so they couldn’t catch the car’s numbers.

“Shit!” Daphne growled in anger. She almost threw another cup to the wall to relieve the intense burning in her lungs. Of the fucking course life would have to make thing that hard!

The other six were in no better mood. Most of them were wearing a scowl on their face. Even Constance seemed nervous. She kept biting her nails until Debbie slapped her hand away from her mouth. Amita tried to make herself busy by fidgeting with the knife and fork at the dinner table. The food was cold. No one was in the mood for eating anyway. Tammy kept her perfect composure and so did Debbie. However, their face betrayed the indifferent façade they’d put up.

The only one Daphne found in common with was Lou. To Daphne, the blonde looked like she was also on the verge to snap. If it wasn’t for Debbie’s hand holding hers, Lou had probably punched something by now. Her laid back demeanor was completely vanished.

“Let’s not assume the worst right now.” Constance broke the icy silence of the room. “According to her bank account, she hasn’t gone anywhere, yet. So there’s a high chance she’s still in the Hamptons. Right?”

People slowly nodded at that. Debbie was having her thinking face on again.

Their leader motioned Constance to keep going: “Furthermore, we’re talking about the Hamptons, where all the gossips run fast as wind. If there’s a thing going there, the press will be the first to know. So we can rule out murder.”

Daphne pondered at that. Constance had a point. Southampton had always been crawled with paparazzi and photographers trying to get something saucy from all the celebrities and millionaires. Even in the middle of fucking winter like this. If they caught sight of something like a very famous designer bleeding on the ground, it would be printed all over the first page of TMZ and The Sun. Those vultures wouldn’t let that slide, especially when Rose had regained her reputation spectacularly lately. 

“Track her phone.” Lou said.

“But there’s no signal. I tried to call her several times already!” Daphne sighed.

“I could track where she last used the device. Then we go there.” Nine gave Daphne’s shoulder an assuring squeeze.

“You can do that?” Daphne widen her eyes in shock.

Nine looked at the starlet incredulously.

“Seriously, give the girl who moved Met Gala’s cam some credits.” Constance chimed in.

“Right…”

Daphne’s shoulders hunched. In just barely a day, Nine Ball managed to do more than what her team did in a fucking week. Really. Too much for bragging that she was not a total freaking idiot when she acted like one just now. To be fair, she didn’t think it would come to this. She just simply worried about Rose. She just wanted to know where’d Rose go. But when she couldn’t reach Rose’s phone on day 3, she lost it.

Well, of course she knew it was a little controlling of her, to watch Rose’s every steps. But to be honest, she was worried sick. The woman she loved somehow managed to stumble into some strangest incidents and she wanted to know about that firsthand. She wanted to be the one who could help. She wanted to be Rose’s rock. She wanted to make Rose untouchable.

Her sweet, darling Rose.

All Daphne had ever wanted was for Rose to be safe and happy with her passion, to design all the masterpieces, to live the best life. She wanted to take Rose far away from the life that had IRS breathing down her neck or having everyone looked down on her works and made Rose crumbled. Daphne Kluger wanted just that.

Called Daphne a control freak for all she cared. Daphne wanted to give Rose all the finest things on earth. Daphne wanted to make Rose her queen. People could say she was just foolishly in love. But Daphne would easily say: She couldn’t resist the desire of her heart and soul.

Some would say Daphne was in it too fast, too deep.

But little did they know everything about Rose intrigued Daphne from the first time they met. Daphne was not the one who believed in star struck lover. She was most definitely not the one who naïve enough to fall for some ‘love at first sight’ kind of fairy tails. But Rose appeared and everything was just clicked. Her messy, miserable, meaningless life fell in place when Rose came. 

Yes, Daphne didn’t believe in love at first sight or craps.

Daphne believed in destiny.

The starlet quietly sat there among the friends she could trust with her life, trusting them to help and get her through this. Trusting them to bring Rose home.

Daphne had never had this feeling before. All her life, it had been tricks and lies. All her life, she spent it under the Hollywood lights. The façades, the fame, the burning flames of everything came with her name was a burden. She had never had someone to trust, to rely on, even when she was broken down, when she needed a shoulder to cry on. All her life, she had always felt so lonely, so alone.

But sitting right there, somehow she felt like that was where she belonged. Somehow, she got what Rose always felt about these ladies. This was home. This was family.

And family took care of each other.

Family meant no one was left behind.

“Hey”

Daphne looked up to see Debbie Ocean leaned into her, the woman was smiling a little. The rare, genuine smile Daphne only saw when Debbie looked at Lou.

“Next time, when you have anything that bothers you, you come here, to us. Understand?” It was still that stern voice, but deeply, in Debbie’s eyes, Daphne could spot the fondness twinkling inside that dark hues. It was Debbie’s way to say, you have a friend in us, so don’t try to be a stranger. At that, Daphne let out a watery laugh. She didn’t know she was crying.

“Yeah.. Nothing ties a bond better than committing a crime with each other.” The Starlet joked for the first time and all the girls broke down laughing. Even Lou seemed a little bit happy. The blonde leaned back in her chair, raised a beer at Daphne like a silent toast then drown it in a single gulp. Daphne did the same with her long-forgotten wine Tammy poured her hours ago.

Somehow, she felt calmer.

Several minutes later, it was Nine who broke the silence: “I got it.”

On the map on the hacker’s laptop, a pulsing red dot appeared. It was located somewhere in Southampton. Rolling the ball she used as a makeshift mouse, Nine zoomed in and the area slowly became clearer for everyone to see. There were lots and lots of huge villas surrounded by the beautiful nature and stunning road paths – a typical place for the riches.

“Well on the bright side, she was definitely not on the street or something...”

Constance received a smack from Debbie for that.

“The problem is... she was on the street. Her phone was right there!”

Nine Ball pointed at the secluded passage to the private village of the Hampton. The road looked eerie and deserted. There was rarely any vehicle passed by. As they scanned closely, they finally saw it, the little phone laid on a patch of snow.

Nine exhaled a puff of breath. She was nervous.

Well, all of them were nervous. Shit was starting to get real here.

Two options here were: Rose dropped her phone here when she was on her way to somewhere, or maybe she was robbed or kidnapped. Either ways. Couldn’t be good.

Needless to be asked, the hacker worked furiously on her keyboard. Tons of different footage showed themselves on Nine’s screen. But none of them was right for Nine's liking. Daphne knew exactly what the hacker was doing. She had seen her agents did that enough time to catch that Nine was trying to find the best angle of the camera somewhere near the spot of Rose’s phone.

“Shit, this is the best I’ve got.” The hacker cursed in anger. Her frustration startled the rest of the girls, but they mumbled ‘It’s okay’ anyway.

“Let’s see what happened on that day.”

Lou said in a calm voice.

The camera angle wasn’t ideal. It was a hidden camera someone installed on a tree near the spot. It was hard to see clearly through all the little branches, but it was the best they got.

They focused on the screen. Nine skipped the time to the exact moment the phone was last activated. They saw a yellow cab drove in from a far. It stopped right in front of the camera sight, and Rose stepped down of the cab, paying the driver and then she stood there for a moment, looking lost. The poor woman was shivering. She fidgeted incessantly until another car pulled over.

“Fancy.” Daphne heard Amita said in awe. Of course it’s fancy. People in this kind of place, there hardly anyone who wasn’t fancy.

A man got out of the vehicle and Daphne saw Rose shifted a little. They couldn’t see her reaction clearly, but Rose did take a step back when she saw the man. It was reasonable, because the newcomer had a very athletic build, tall, dark hair, quite attractive but intimidating as fuck. Seeing Rose standing there with him was like seeing a small rabbit in front of a huge brown bear.

It seemed like they were arguing about something and it started to get very out of hands. Rose took several steps back as she tried to shake off the man’s firm grip on her fragile shoulder. The woman was frightened.

Daphne let out a strangled noise when she saw Rose weakly protested until the man shoved her on the nearby tree. Rose, little Rose couldn’t do much to counter that. Her phone felt out of her hand when she tried to brace herself from another aggressive push. Her already wild hair escaped the bunch and fanned out. They saw Rose tried to say something but to no avail, the man took her by the collar of her dress and screamed. He shook the poor woman, screamed at her as he continuously assaulted her.

Rose was like a ragdoll. She let him slam her on the tree. One time, three times, five times. Her limbs and lips stop moving.

“What the fuck…” Daphne heard someone whispered. She wanted to say something in returned but she couldn’t. Her whole body froze up in fear. She couldn’t move her own tongue. Her vision got blurry again. She couldn’t breathe. The sight of Rose bleeding out on the cold street when the man threw her down a fucking huge rock was the last straw.

Daphne threw up.

With all her might, Daphne pushed Tammy’s hand away from her and suppressed the urge to scream. What the fuck did she just saw? Was that a fucking joke? Who the fuck was that man? Why did Rose agreed to meet him? Why the fuck did he do what he did? A million questions flooded her mind and made her dizzy as hell.

Daphne shook in grieve and anger. She bit her lips, unbeknown that it was bleeding badly. Her fists clenched until her knuckles turned white. She took a deep breath and glared up at the screen. Not now. Daphne said to herself. This was not the fucking time to break. She needed to see where Rose was. And after that, she needed to see who the fuck that man was.

Everyone was looking at her at that point, pity, worried and disbelieve were evident in their eyes. The gang looked as if they couldn’t believe what just happened right in front of their eyes, either. It’s understandable. What on earth was that? What had Rose, the sweet little Rose, ever done to him that made him so angry at her? The whole ordeal seemed suspicious and bizarre as fuck.

Though curious, they kept watching as Daphne signaled that she’s fine.

Time passed by, they had to watched Rose lying unconscious on the ground for hours until another car pulled over. They held their breath as they watched the scene unfolded. A young lady, a very familiar, petite, blonde young lady rushed out of the car. She urgently kneeled down beside Rose while frantically calling for her driver. Despite of her slight figure, she somehow managed to move Rose’s from the rock and wrapped her in a warm coat. The driver looked as if he wanted the young lady to get back to the car, but she refused. She stayed there in the snow with Rose until the ambulance came.

As the medics rushed out to take Rose, the young girl followed them. Just then, she turned her head and her face was directly at the camera.

Stood in front of them, the little woman saving Rose’s life was no other than Daphne’s rival: Penelope Stern.

\--- Chapter 1 End ---


	2. Chapter 2

The uncomfortable silence filled the room as everyone was taking a moment to take the whole thing in. It seemed so surreal. One moment, everything was still okay and a second later, all hell broke lose. It was like yesterday, they saw Rose looked so happy, rambling about designing a new line of dress and then reality crashed down, Rose was no where to be seen. Rose was missing. Rose was beaten. Rose was in trouble. And none of them paid enough attention to realize it sooner.

Now they’re here, two weeks after the horrid incident, unable to move, staring at the empty screen. Because as shocking as it sounded, they might be world-class criminal, but they weren’t trained for this situation. They weren’t, and never will be prepared to see one of them was beaten to the near death by some fucking stranger.

The whole gang took the impact in their own different ways. Some fidgeted, some kept their silence. Some looked as if they wanted to pound something and some was just lost in thoughts. But needless to say, Daphne Kluger was affected the most. But Daphne kept her face carefully blank, even though her hands were trembling badly, even though she could feel her own heart was aching, breaking, little by little, crashed and burnt down to the cold hard ground.

Daphne thought she knew pain before.

She thought she was the one who understand pain the most. But no chains and whips could measure with this kind of pain. No amount of stupid fucking hate comments and cursed could burn Daphne like this one. This pain, this pain was the kind of pain that slowly consumed her, made her feel like she was fucking drowning, continuously, incessantly. This was the kind of pain that ripped her soul out, bits by bits until there’s nothing but shreds and pieces. It was antagonizing. It was horrifying. It was, to an extend, a fucking hellfire.

And it scared the shit out of Daphne.

If this was what loving someone made a person feel, then Daphne was not sure she’s strong enough for that. She wondered if this was what everyone felt when they’re in love. Did they experience the constant aching to be near, the endless throbbing to be loved? Have they ever suffered from this kind of soul-consuming, heartbreaking pain when you saw the one you love in danger and suddenly feel like it was too much, too hurtful to bear?

But love also made her stronger somehow. Love was the only thing that kept her standing at the very moment. Love was the only thing that prevented Daphne Kluger from crashed and burnt. Because at that faithful moment, not everything was about her anymore. It’s not about how she felt like she couldn’t breathe, nor the fact that she was in a verge of breaking down.

It’s about how she held herself up for the woman she loved.

It’s about how one stayed strong for the other who was helpless and falling.

Daphne would not fall apart when Rose needed her the most. Rose had always been her harbor, her lifeline. Now it was her time to be Rose’s guideline. Now it was her time to lead Rose home.

So Daphne steeled herself and stood up straight. With the thought of seeing Rose, she was no longer afraid. If this was what fate had in store for them then Daphne would say a loud and clear: ‘Fuck you’ to its face. She had never been the woman of faith, but she had always been the woman who got her ways. So if she had to turn the fucking world upside down for Rose, she’d do it.

Daphne also had never been the woman who played by rules. So if she had to kill that motherfucker for Rose, she’d do it without a shadow of a doubt, without any sense of regret.

And if she had to call Penelope fucking Stern for Rose, Daphne would do it.

_“Hello?”_

It couldn’t be exaggerated to say that Daphne was surprised to hear Penelope Stern’s voice politely answered the phone. What a far cry from the image Daphne had always known of. To be perfectly honest, at first, Daphne held nothing at Penelope. Though they both were rising stars of Hollywood, their lines never once crossed. Not until lately, when Penelope had her new representative company, shit had gone down hill.

It didn’t bother Daphne, how Penelope tried to audition for every roles she did. It didn’t even make it way in her mind until the press kept babbling about a rising starlet would bring Daphne’s downfall. And it became worse, when Daphne found out that all of the fucking ruckus she had to endure was caused by Penelope’s PR team. Trying to steal her role was one thing, talking shit behind her back and set her up was not fucking okay.

And the fact that Penelope Stern went along with it was what made Daphne hated her so much.

But to think about it, it wasn’t fair for the girl, really. She just did what her agency told her to do. With a rising star, their publicist’s words were golden words for them to follow. People always think the star get to do whatever she wants but that’s not on the plate in the Hollywood industry. No. Being a new star is a matter of do-or-die situation. They would make up terrible things about you and you’d have to deal with it if you wanted to be famous.

That’s the part of the deal.

And it sounded awful lots like selling their souls for the devil.

So blaming Penelope Stern for everything was not the best move Daphne had made. But at the time, she couldn’t give two flying fucks about that. She let the story run wild. She went along with it, and slowly, she got caught up in the role she could never get out. But on the bright side, which her representative made sure she understood, was: this stupid back and forth banter would benefit them both, so why should she shut it down?

But it did give Penelope Stern a mark on Daphne’s mind.

And as careful as Daphne had always been, she’d never go near these people who gave her an unstable sense of feeling.

_‘Hello? Who is this?’_ Penelope asked with a slightly annoyed tone. Maybe she thought this was a scam phone call from fans.

“Ms. Stern, i’m Daphne Kluger.” After a moment of awkward silence, Daphne spoke up. She could practically hear the girl gasped. Yeah. Not everyday were you got a call from your biggest rival in the filming industry. So Penelope Stern was allowed to be a little but surprised.

Judging by the looks Daphne received from all her friends, Penelope Stern was not the only one who’s in shock when she called, either.

_‘Oh…’_ the young girl stuttered a bit, which was kind of funny, but also indicated how confused and unprepared she was _. ‘Ms. Kluger… What can I do for you?’_

“Let me get straight to the point, where’s Rose right now?”

A little tired to play the formal part of a Hollywood actress, Daphne didn’t feel like it’s necessary to beat around the bush. She just wanted to know where Rose was. Penelope was the last one with Rose, so if the young starlet decided to leave Rose at the hospital alone then at least she still got the name of the hospital. It’s not like Rose could go anywhere. And if she did, the hospital would know about it.

_‘eh… sorry, but what are you to Ms. Weil? And how am I supposed to know where she is?’_

Daphne groaned. It’s official, Penelope Stern was a terrible liar. That’s first of all. And second of all, what was the girl even thinking? Why the hell did she just lie to Daphne’s face? If she paid enough attention then she would know Daphne and Rose were friends, or at least, co-workers. It made totally sense that Daphne would call and ask about Rose’s whereabout. Had the thought ever occurred to the young girl that she had to inform Rose’s family? Or those who’s closest to Rose, which was Daphne, and the gang, and Rose’s assistant!

But really, a part of Daphne appreciated how Penelope was able to keep this whole ordeal under wrapped.

“Seriously, Ms. Stern, you don’t need to lie to me.” Daphne tried her best to sound professional though she’s running out of patience. “I’m worried about Rose. She and I go way back, and we even have a project going on, too. So be a dear, and tell me where Rose is, please?”

Daphne could practically feel the gear in the girl’s head turning. She just wished for them to turn faster because she’s about to loose her shit. It was this close when she decided to fuck Penelope Stern and her secret and asked Nine to search every hospital in NY did the younger movie star meekly spoke up. Her voice was hush and quiet. Almost too quiet that Daphne had trouble to catch her words at first, but then the realization dawn on her. Daphne understood.

_“She’s in the operating room_ …” Daphne took in a deep breath. _“We’re in NY Presbyterian, God… I…”_ The younger starlet’s voice was trembling with a hint of exhaustion.

Just then, a faint voice called Penelope’s name and the younger girl hastily dropped her phone in the process, causing Daphne to almost drop her own. But Daphne held on. She listened intendedly. She heard the angry male’s voice yelling at the doctors and the poor young girl. She heard Penelope shot angry words at him in the same quiet voice, telling him to tone it down. But the man didn’t listen, not until Penelope Stern threaten to call the security in the most venomous tone Daphne had ever heard from the movie star.

Daphne Kluger had to say, she’s impressed.

_“Sorry… There’s a complication.”_ The young girl let out a frustrated sigh. _“Ms. Kluger… If you would be so kind and drop by… Rose would really need a familiar face by now…”_

Daphne didn’t even hesitate to say: “Of course. Send me the room number. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

After the girl muttered something sounded like ‘you got it’, Daphne quietly added: “Thank you.”

_“Uh… it’s nothing.”_

“No… it’s not nothing…” Daphne murmured to herself as she hung up the call and wait for the address to come via message. She swayed slightly at her feet while her mind ran a thousand mile ahead of her, to the image of Rose in a hospital gown.

It’s not nothing, because Penelope Stern didn’t know that she had not only helped saving a life, but she didn’t even have a clue that she also saved the only reason for Daphne to stay alive. ‘God’ Daphne mused sadly. She used to think all the film scripts were vain and stupid. She used to think that no one needed another person that much, no one ever loved someone that hard to feel their hearts breaking inside when they’re apart, to feel their souls being tortured when seeing the one they love withered in pain.

But somehow, she got it now. Somehow, she could sympathize with Jack who gave his life up for Rose, with how foolishly in love like Romeo and Juliet. Now, She could finally understand. Because at the very moment she saw Rose lying on the ground, bloody all over, every fibers of her being were on fire, screaming, begging the lord all mighty for her to take Rose’s place, wishing that she was the one to endure all the unbearable pain.

At that very moment, she didn’t care about her own self. She just wanted Rose to be safe and sound, even if it would be her who suffered in exchange.

The message came a minute later with all the information she needed.

_New York Presbyterian Hospital._

_Neuro floor – East Wing - Room 5337_

Daphne showed the team the details and it took Tammy no time to call two private cab for everyone except for Lou. The Australian already hopped in her trusted bike and signaled for Daphne to come along. In the rush hour, motorcycle indeed became very handy. Lou waved through the god forsaken traffic and speed up like real maniac. But Daphne couldn’t care less. Just like Lou, she just wanted to see Rose, as soon as possible.

To hell with everything else.

\---

The world had a funny way to prove that it treated people fair and square. Because it’s not only Daphne Kluger that had been through hell that day, but it also seemed like the whole fucking world had gone mad.

Outside of the hospital, which should be eerily calm by now since it was three in the morning, was a total mess. The press was blocking the damn hospital’s entrance like their own families were being hospitalized. But really, who could blame them? It’s not every day that NY Presbyterian was crowded by celebrities like that moment. If Penelope Stern wasn’t enough, then a certain hot shot actor surely could spice things up.

Daphne was hardly being noticed by any of the doctors and nurses since everyone was so caught up in staring at the heated fight which was occurred right there in the middle of the hall in Neuro floor.

What a sight to behold.

Penelope Stern was having a quarrel of her life with the one and only Johnny Depp. After the male actor punched a guy into a bloody heap on the floor, no less.

“God, why can’t you understand that she needs to be stabilized! Her state is nowhere near fit to be transfer!” The young starlet wailed in despair as the actor growled in anger.

He seemed like he had had enough of that nonsense.

“What she needs! Is for me to take her back home! Where she can receive the best care system! Not this rat hole!”

Clearly, his words offended nearly the whole hospital because to be frank, NY Pres was and will always be one of the best hospital in the State. The visible gasps in pure shock of the hospital workers would be a lot funnier if Daphne didn’t have a massive problem to worry about. All things aside, Daphne took confident strides toward the arguing pair, making herself present.

“This, my dear friends, is highly inappropriate. Why don’t we take this to somewhere more private?” Her tone was light, but still carried a hint of authorities. Years of being Hollywood most powerful actress, she was not afraid to play the power move, and she clearly knew how to make herself heard.

At her words, all eyes were on her in an instant. Some even looked like they’re having the best day of her life. Penelope’s form instantly relaxed. But Johnny wasn’t. He fixed her with a steely glare.

“Daphne Kluger.” He raised his eyebrows, a trademark smirk presented on his face but there was no humor in there. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”

Daphne gave him a fake, sugary smile: “Well, I should be the one to ask that, should I not?” He scowled. But she continued: “Clearly we have the same concern. So, how about we tone it down and go somewhere that we’re not being gawked at like some zoo animals on display?”

Daphne could see Depp narrowed his eyes at her. But after assessing the whole situation, he flicked his hand in dismissal.

“Seriously, guys. Where are your manners?”

That’s all Daphne said before she took the lead to the empty conference room nearby. Followed her closely was a very exhausted and scared Penelope Stern. Depp glared at her again but still, he gave in. The three of them sat around the oval table, along with the head attending in charge of Rose’s case and also, the chief of surgery. Lou was waiting outside. In her hand, a pack of cigarette was visible.

The air was tense as hell when the doctor presented the case again.

Daphne listened carefully. She wasn’t doctor by any means, but she could still catch some serious phrases. Apparently, Rose’s hard fall had caused her a brain damage. intracranial hematoma, he said. Because of the belatedly transition to the hospital, the injury caused Rose some minimum seizure. The doctor was worried about her ability to speak since her left hemisphere was a little damaged. But good news was they managed to relief the pressure and the swelling of Rose’s brain.

“So we’re saying that miss Weil is stable for now. But we strongly recommend you not to move her. She needs to be closely monitored and even a hitch can make her status turns worse, increase the chance of having another brain bleed, as such.” The surgeon said. “We can assure you that she’s having the best care under our attention. We have one of the best neurosurgeon in the States. She’s in good hands; we promise you that.”

“Best care.” Depp scoffed. “Let’s not lie because we all know Massachusetts is way better.”

Penelope rolled her eyes. “Would you stop it already?”

“You, darling, do not get me started…”

“Then by all means, don’t!” Daphne snapped. She had had enough.

Depp looked at her like she slapped him. But she couldn’t care less.

“Can I see her?” That’s all Daphne say.

“Of course, miss Kluger. Ms. Weil is in the ICU. She’s unconscious, but I guess it’s no harm to let you in.” The chief of surgery spoke politely. Daphne nodded and walked out of the room. She exchanged a meaningful look along with a subtle nod with Lou before headed to Rose’s room. Lou signed for her to go first; the blonde would follow her later. It’s not like Daphne didn’t notice Lou’s thinking face was on when she was looking intendedly at the unconscious, bloody man on the floor. But she had a bigger matter to tend to.

The walk to neuro ICU was excruciatingly long and fearsome. With every steps she took, she felt her heart sped up like crazy. She was not ready. Daphne belatedly realized. She was not ready to face Rose after she somehow let the woman down when she didn’t go find her instantly. She was not ready to bare Rose’s incredibly kind eyes when she already knew what she had done to the poor woman. She felt a little lightheaded. Not sure if it’s because of her lack of nutrient, or because of her own guilt. But Daphne could almost certain it was the latter.

“You look like you need a bed for yourself, little girl.” Depp gave her a side glance.

“God knows… Maybe I do.”

They fell into silence again when the doctor stopped at a glass room. The curtain was close. Must be how they secluded patient’s privacy.

Daphne took a long, shuddering breath before she waved at the doctor, wordlessly telling him to open the door. And he did. They took turn getting in. Penelope quickly go first, then Johnny, and lastly, was Daphne. The brunette starlet tried to steel herself for what she was going to see. She sure as fuck needed it.

Behind the curtain was a sight that would haunt Daphne for the rest of her life.

Rose was out cold in the hospital bed, looking so lost and small. White bandage covered most of her wild blond but saved for her eyes, which were closed very tight. Daphne didn’t know what the deal with all brain surgeries was and why all of the patient with brain damage had dark, bruised eyes when they got out of the OR, but seeing Rose’s beautiful features covered in dark and blue was so painful and heartbreaking.

There were wired and tubes all over the petite woman, made her look even smaller and vulnerable. She must be in pain if these little whimpers were anything to go by. Three movie stars stood there, speechless. Each and everyone in this room, saved for the doctor, had some connection with the woman in that bed, and they needed a moment to took in. Took in the fact that, that was their friend, the love of their life that was lying there, beaten up, lost in the limbo with no indication of when she’d wake up.

They took a moment to digest the pain, to let it sink in before one of them break.

Daphne never pegged Penelope Stern for a subtle girl, but somehow she’s wrong. The girl must have noticed that Daphne was trembling, holding back the urge to cry because she instantly, but politely, asked the doctor to leave them alone for a moment. Daphne appreciated that. As soon as the glass door closed behind her and the curtain was drawn off, Daphne let out a heart wrenching cry.

God knew how she hated the whole ‘fall down onto the floor’ bullshit she had to do in every fucking films she had starred on. But Daphne could feel the strength left her legs as she tried to get closer to the hospital bed. If it wasn’t for Depp’s quick reflex, Daphne would certainly get her face smashed on the floor, for the second time in less than 24 hours, no less.

“Jeez. Get a grip, girl.”

Penelope Stern also rushed to her side without thinking. The young girl helped her settle on to the side of the bed with the gentlest way possible. Daphne couldn’t help but murmuring a small ‘thank you’. This young star hadn’t ceased to amaze her since the first time they talked by her genuine kindness. Daphne was started to think she was too hard on her.

As Daphne was unable to speak, it was Depp who spoke up and broke the silence with his low and dangerous voice. “I should have killed that bastard when I got a chance.” He grumbled. “Actually, I still can.” The older actor gritted his teeth and made a move to walk out of the room but was stopped by Penelope. The younger starlet looked so unsure, but she stood her place.

“Get out of my way.” Daphne heard Depp said.

“With all due respects, sir, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“A good idea, is me dragging that sorry excuse of a human being and feed him to the fucking alligator.”

“You need to remember that you’re a celebrity! You can’t throw a tantrum like that and expect people to be over it! Seriously, now I know why you got in so much trouble!”

Daphne silently agreed with Penelope on that.

“It’s not like you are a bad person or something. You just have a very shitty way to deal with your anger. That’s all!” Penelope finished that sentence with a slight shake to her voice. But she delivered her point, nonetheless.

Depp narrowed his eyes at Penelope, and it seemed like he was about to returned to her some snarky comebacks, but Daphne refused to let that happened.

“Johnny, listen to your newfound daughter. Let her kick some senses into you.” She rolled her eyes when the other two gawked at her dramatically. People, really.

As they bickered, they didn’t notice the faint movement from Rose’s body. Depp was too busy to scowl at anything and everything in the room and Penelope tried to convince him about the quality of this place. But Daphne paid attention. At the second twitch of Rose’s hand, Daphne was ready to jump and push that little button on the bedside table to call the doctor. But she was unable to move when Rose’s eyes fluttered.

The woman had woken up.

The only thing that escaped Daphne’s agape mouth was a stupid “hey” as she gently stroked the older woman’s cheek. Her heart was hammering inside of her ribcage. Daphne just couldn’t wait to see those hypnotized chocolate orbs again. Holding her breath as she watched the woman slowly opened her eyes, Daphne completely forgot about Depp and Stern. The two had stopped fighting the moment they heard her. Instead, they gathered around the huge bed and started to look at Rose with hope filled their lungs.

“Hey…” Daphne croaked. “Hey there…” a little smile made way to her lips as Rose slowly scanned the hospital room. Her confused look was making Daphne nervous, but she refused to let it get in her head. There’s no way that Rose would forget about her, right?

The injured woman actually looked very uncertain and scared. Lucky for the three stars that the doctor didn’t intubate Rose, or else she would be in much more discomfort by now since none of the three could move on their feet. They didn’t know how to deal with this situation. Not when Rose was eyeing them conspicuously like they were some strangers or something.

Because technically, Depp claimed to know Rose and her family, which was a very big thing because none of Daphne’s gang members knew that Rose had a family to begin with. Penelope Stern saved her life, as well as the fact that they’d met before, there’s no reason to act like a stranger. And there was Daphne, the one who left Rose a scarred heart…

They were hard as fuck to forget, really.

“Hey…” Rose spoke up for the first time. Her usual flourish Irish was a little scratchy but still, it was like music to Daphne’s ears. “Where am I?” The older woman swallowed. “And sweet baby, why are you crying?”

Daphne was a little startled when she felt Rose’s hand on her cheek. She could feel her heart stuttered like a broken jukebox. She didn’t even notice that she was crying, and Rose was gently wiping her tears away. The woman still looked at her with that odd, focus way but still, Daphne couldn’t mind, because this was the first time since the day she fucked up had Rose touched her like she did before. And Daphne didn’t want it to end. Not when her heart was finally somewhat filled with love and whole.

“You are in the hospital, Rosie…” Daphne softly whispered. She lifted one hand to hold Rose’s in hers and gave it a small kiss. Ever a sweet darling, Rose smiled at her as Daphne nuzzled her cheek in Rose’s palm. Not that everybody knew, but at that very moment, Daphne was silently thanking every Gods and Angels in this fucking universe for bringing Rose back to her. She was thanking the moon and the stars for she could see that smile once again.

Jesus. Daphne was never considered herself as a religious person, but she wanted to thank him, over and over, for not taking away the one perfect angel that’s still on earth.

“Oh…” Rose sadly muttered.

“Wait… you know my name?”

Everyone was taken aback because of that. Johnny’s scowl was deeper than ever, and Penelope watched Daphne in horror. The girl wasn’t worried for nothing because Daphne was certainly in shock. She dropped Rose’s hand as she scrambled back to stand on her feet, unable to utter a thing. Only the sadness and disbelieving displayed on her face could tell her emotion then.

“What’s wrong…?”

Daphne instinctively moved away when Rose reached out for her. The older woman looked so lost and muddled that Daphne wanted to just fall in her outstretch hands, but her conscious didn’t let her. Daphne could only let out a strangled noise when she turned away from Rose’s innocent and worried gaze. Of course Rose would only hold her when she forgot all about their past. Her Rose wouldn’t… Her Rose, the Rose who knew her would never touch her again after that night.

Knowing very well about that fact, Daphne could not take advantage of Rose, even if it hurt Daphne like hell to rip away. Even if she wanted nothing more than to stay.

“Penelope dear, could you make sure she’s alright? I can’t sit up…”

Daphne bit her lips, not knowing that it’s already bleeding badly. Her head throbbed with the unbearable pain. Her lungs almost gave out. But nothing made her feel more in hell than her own stupid heart. She knew it was the last straw she could take, the way Rose stared at her like a pitiful stranger. She knew, for that moment her own soul left her body and there she was with nothing to hold on to.

Daphne Kluger had lost everything.

So she brushed Penelope off and staggered out of the room without turning back. She ignored Depp’s call and Penelope’s begging. She felt suffocated. She needed to get the hell out of there. Daphne couldn’t look at Rose anymore. She just couldn’t. That’s enough for a day. Daphne let out a bitter laugh.

The movie star got out of the room, shut it behind her. She faced a very hard to read Lou Miller and Debbie Ocean. The rest of the gang was there as well, looking worried and ready to see Rose.

“How is she?” Lou asked.

“She didn’t remember me…”

That’s all she could say before she saw all the tiny black dots dancing in her vison. A second later, Daphne’s worlds went dark.

\--- Chapter 2 End ---


	3. Chapter 3

Turned out, Depp was right.

Daphne did get a bed for herself in this hospital.

The starlet woke up with a start. She was sweating profusely, and her heart rate sounded crazy on the monitor machine. Her fucking throat was literally useless. It’s like someone had poured a gallon of sand in her mouth while she was out cold. It was damn annoying and painful. She would kill someone for a glass of water and a towel by now. And she could certainly give anyone anything to leave her the fuck alone and not asking about why she was looking like she had seen a ghost. Or more likely, being stomped over by an army of ghost.

Daphne did not want to talk about it.

She most definitely didn’t want to talk about the dream she had just had that was terrible enough to pull her out of the miserable coma.

For the record. Daphne rarely dreamt. She was a busy woman; she didn’t have the time and energy for that. As an actress, she barely had time to even sleep at all. So no, Daphne rarely dreamt. But when she did, it never was a pleasant experiment. Frankly, it was fucking suck.

Watching enough American Horror Story: Coven, Daphne already knew she was going through hell. Such an honor to be in it beforehand, really. Contrary to everyone’s believes, hell was not a place with fire and demons waiting to skin you alive. Hell was the place where it exploited the fuck out of your greatest fear and made you relive it again, again, again and again. Imagine your worst nightmare was watching your love ones leaving you one by one and you just stood there, unable to make a difference. And you’d have to watch your mistakes each day and everyday to eternity.

That’s your personal hell.

It could be so simple, yet, It could still leave an impeccable impact on you. Daphne smirked at herself. Oh how pathetic she was. The starlet mused as she looked at her trembling hands on her lap. She tried to swallow and chased all those cursed images out of her head.

_Bad dreams, bad dreams, go away._

_Good dreams, good dreams, hear to stay._

Daphne laid down, closed her eyes once more only to relive the same nightmare she had endured. She could still see Rose in every scene, looking at her with that indifferent glance. She could still feel the soul crushing regret when she tried and tried to reach out but there would be forever a distant of the sea between herself and the woman she loved. Over and over again that moment when they were happy and a second later, they would become a stranger.

And over and over again, Daphne would be alone, drowning, flailing, failing to resurface. Completely submerged in the terrible memory of that faithful day when she drove Rose away. What a fitful ending for her. She might say.

She didn’t bother to drink the little water glass that was neatly placed on her bedside table after eyeing it carefully. Curtesy of Tammy, maybe. She appreciated it, really. But she also knew it was no use, since she might have screamed her throat out when she fell asleep again.

“You should drink it, darling.” Daphne almost jumped out of her skin when she heard the quiet voice from beside her. There sat Rose in her wheelchair with Penelope Stern helping her getting around. “An advice from a patient to a patient, that is.”

“Oh…” Daphne dumbly said. “Right…”

She took the glass but didn’t quite drink it. She observed the two in front of her carefully, clearly confused. But most of all, she’s tired. She’s not sure she could deal with this right now.

“uh… what are you two doing here?”

Daphne was sure she heard the doctor said something about Rose shouldn’t move so much or else her state would turn into shit. Well, technically, a brain bleed was shitty, in Daphne’s opinion, anyway. So why was she here? In Daphne’s room, of all the place? If her memory served her right, Rose forgot about her. So the fact that Rose’s here with her made absolutely no fucking sense.

Unless…

“Oh… Sweet Penny filled me in that you and I were in a very good term, so I guess I could drop by, see how you’re doing.” Rose said cheerfully.

Now that Daphne thought about it. Rose seemed better. She didn’t have that bandage all over her head and her eyes were no longer black and bruised. Instead, Rose looked fine. She was almost normal saved for the juice bag that was attached to her left arm. But all in all, Rose was well, and cheery, and she called Penelope Stern by a fucking pet name.

“Penny…?” Okay, Daphne was trying her best to not sound bitter. Rose never addressed her with such adoration before. Every time they interacted, it would end up with Daphne trying too hard and Rose would shy away.

So yeah. Ms. Kluger here was scolding herself to suppress this weird feeling.

“Oh, I assumed you’ve met little Penelope here.” Rose gave the youngest girl a sweetest smile and patted her hand lovingly. “She’s such a darling! Helping me with nothing and everything! She picked me up at the side of the road. If it’s not for this little dove, I guess I would have died!”

Rose sighed dramatically. She nuzzled Penelope’s hand with her little nose. The scene was so familiar that made Daphne’s blood boiled with something like a mix of anger and sadness. She knew this picture all too well. This was the same scenario that displayed in front of her eyes the day she was trying to find a designer for her Met dress. And even then, when she didn’t harbor this ridiculously strong feeling for Rose, she was furious. And now, that god forsaken dreadful moment came back and bit her in the heart with a vengeance.

Another simple “Oh” was croaked out as Daphne tried to find something to say.

She didn’t know what the fuck to say.

“I guess… I guess I… uh, we should thank her then…”

It sounded dumb. Daphne knew she sounded dumb. She felt dumb. But she was too tired. Seeing Rose all bright and shine was one thing. And Daphne appreciated it every single moment she saw Rose. But Seeing Rose in the arm of another woman, seeing Rose with Penelope, her heart couldn’t take it. A petty side of her told her to tell them to fuck off. But a soft and stupid side of her was begging for Rose to never leave.

Living half of her life, Daphne always knew a fact: her stupid side always win.

“You seem well, Rosie…” Daphne whisper gently. Her face softened a little bit at that, too. She could never stay angry or sad when Rose was there. It would never change, even if this Rose was not her Rose. It was all the same.

“Oh, yes, yes, I’m almost as good as new now!” Rose looked as if she could, she would stand up and gave her a twirl. But thankfully, she sat still, only her hands moved a little faster and more animatedly than Daphne had ever seen. Rose was so happy and carefree. Daphne felt her heart lifted up, a little lighter. This was the Rose before IRS; This was the Rose that wasn’t burdened by anything. This was the Rose she wanted to see…

And now here she was. But Daphne was not apart of it.

“And Johnny said hi!” Rose kept rambling. “He’s a dear but sometimes he needs to work on that temper of him, though. Anyway! He likes you, darling. Which is a good thing! Johnny never likes any friends of mine… So I guess we’re really good for each other, no?”

‘Good for each other’, Daphne smirked a little at that. How ironic. Really. If she was so good for Rose then nothing like this would have happened. If they were so good for each other, Rose wouldn’t be so afraid when Daphne was around. And if the world was so dead set on rubbing that irony on Daphne’s face, then Daphne would not feel like her heart and soul were squashed under a ton of bricks.

The movie star fiddled with her bedsheet, not saying anything. She knew Rose was looking at her expectantly. She could literally feel Penelope’s begging eyes bored into her like a puppy drill, but she refused to look up.

If anyone was good for Rose, it would be that young girl over there saving Rose’s life, or anyone for that matter who didn’t break Rose’s heart.

And definitely not Daphne fucking Kluger.

“No… I guess… I guess we’re not that of a good friend.” It took all of Daphne’s strength to mutter that sentence. Little pricks and pinches stabbed her heart made her felt a little too dizzy to stay up right, so she just casually laid down again. The glass of water was being forgotten again on the bedside table.

Closed her tired and puffy eyes, Daphne didn’t want Rose or Penelope to see the tears threatened to fall. “You and I… We’re just client and designer. Nothing more.”

It’s official. Daphne could not breathe. That fucking sentence was like a damn clutch that held her heart in a deadlock. She gasped quietly, tried to fight to urge to sob. So she just sunk further into the comfy pillow underneath, pressed in the sheet deeply and brought her hands around her body in a makeshift hug she always did to calm her rushing mind.

_Hold yourself and count to ten…_

_Hold yourself and count to ten…_

Daphne tried to count through silence tears. She bit her already injured lips. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably. Everything was unbearable. Daphne thought to herself. If she thought she knew pain before, if she even marveled that finding Rose on the roadside was the worst, then she was so fucking wrong. Because nothing hurt more than Rose discarded her out of her life like she was a fucking nothing. Nothing would be more painful than trying to be a bigger person and spared Rose all troubles of knowing Daphne again.

Nothing would hurt more than letting go of the person you loved.

But Daphne managed. She did it. Poorly. But she did it anyway.

She heard the door closing, which was a sign that Rose was gone. Just then, she let he sobs felt out, strangled. Her body instinctively curled up into a ball. Knees on her chest just to put a little more pressure, just to feel a little safer. She always thought she was the strong type, the type of woman that would never cry because of her heart break. But these days, She learnt that she could be like this. It’s almost like being transported back in time when she was just a small young girl struggling with a loveless family and surrounded by a big, new, flashy, cruel industry.

It’s almost like all of the armor she tried so hard to put on had fallen of and dissolved into nothingness.

And Daphne was so scared. So lost to begin with.

Just when she started to feel the same panic bubbled in her chest every time she’s tired or terrified, a warm hand on her hair kept her from spiraling out of the rail. It was the same hand that held her hair back when she was having a panic attack in the dressing room the day of the Met. It was the same hand that gave her so much comfort, so much longing, so much love that she thought she could never have again. It was the hand that belonged to the woman she loved. Even in the depth of her hell mind she somehow still managed to realize.

It was Rose’s…

“Oh darling… you must be so tired…”

There’s that stupid Irish lilt again that made her heart leaped like a schoolgirl. Daphne didn’t reply. She let out a whimper when Rose carefully stroked her head. Ever touches were heaven sent. And Daphne kept crying.

“I know it’s a little bit muddled in here right now” Rose gestured at her head with a sad little smile. “But from the moment I saw you, I guess… I saw something, about us, darling.”

Daphne held her breath. She wondered what Rose might see. Was it their first meeting when Daphne tried her best to get Rose attention? Was it their fight? Daphne didn’t know. So she just stayed quiet and enjoyed Rose’s little touch. She didn’t stop with it, and Daphne definitely wasn’t strong enough to pull away, again.

Rose kept talking. Her voice was soothing, like an old Irish lullaby, homey and warm: “I don’t know what makes you ran away, love.” She paused and her eyes shifted. A pensive look made way to her sculptured feature but was quickly replaced by a soft, almost loving gaze. The same one Daphne loved so much when they were alone together.

Of course Rose didn’t know that Daphne knew. But the woman wasn’t that subtle.

And Daphne was sure as hell didn’t want to expose Rose. She enjoyed them so much to ruin it for herself, anyway.

“But run away will never solve the problem. So don’t run away from me, okay, darling?”

That small plea in the older woman voice was so heart fell and sincere. And as terrified as Daphne might feel, she hesitantly nodded. Rose’s hand and voice were putting a spell on her and Daphne felt sleepy again.

She nuzzled Rose’s palm in her drowsy state and left there a small but loving kiss.

“We will figure things out together…” The sweet scent of Rose invaded Daphne’s nostril and before Daphne knew it, she felt her warm, but a little chapped lips on her forehead like a seal of the deal.

She could only melt.

“That we will…”

That’s all Daphne could mutter when she fell into a fitful sleep.

\---

Daphne didn’t have a clue how long she’s been out of it. But she had a feeling like she’d slept forever. The heaviness left her tired body like a lifted weight and she felt stronger. She was in and out of it as people came and went. Sometimes it was Tammy who stopped by and brought her some homemade soup. Sometimes it was Constance who came to tell her a story of her day, just to keep her company. One day it was Amita with her magical herb that helped Daphne relax or maybe Nine Ball who tried to sneak in some weed just to cheer her up.

Deb and Lou came, too. The two didn’t say much, but they were there, asking the doctor about Daphne’s state of health and promised fresh Gin and Vodka when she’s up at her feet.

But most of the day, it was Rose. Well, to be fair, Rose and Penelope. The younger starlet made it a mission to stay and watched out for Rose. When Daphne’s not too drowsy, she asked about why, and Penelope just shrugged and joked that someone must take responsible when Daphne’s out of it.

That girl was one cheeky little shit, but somehow, she grew on Daphne so fast it was like a fungus or something. Daphne mused to herself.

It was weird, at first. Weirdly loving. Because never in her life had Daphne had ever thought she could spend so much time with Rose, not to mention the older woman was willingly to do so. Rose was there, all the time by her bedside. Sometimes they spoke about fashion, the met dress, Rose’s new collection and wonderful ideas. Sometimes it was just comfortable silence when they sat there together, enjoying each other company like they used to be when things didn’t take a catastrophe turn.

At this moment, when there’s just Rose and Daphne, with the blonde woman careful crafted a beautiful apple into masterpiece and Daphne nested cozily in the blanket Rose lent her, everything was perfect. It had a heavenly aroma that put Daphne in a state of floating without care of falling and drowning in the depth of despair.

It was too good to be true and Daphne almost selfishly wanted Rose to never have to remember all the horrible thing she’d been through. But Daphne also knew, things didn’t work that way. This? Whatever this was, it wouldn’t last. And for someone who had been living a lie all her life, the last thing Daphne wanted was doing the same with Rose.

Daphne wanted Rose, but not when she was so guilty about it. Daphne wanted Rose, but not when she knew Rose would resent her when she had her memory back.

Everything was so complicated.

Her life was a fucking hot mess that she didn’t know how to solve. But maybe she worried too much. She should just listen to Debbie. Took one step at the time so she wouldn’t fall.

“I’ll be discharged in a few day.” Rose’s quiet voice shook Daphne out of her thought. She averted her gaze to face Rose with a deep breath. Every time their eyes met, it was like electricity was running in her veins and burning her in the sweetest way possible. There’s something magnetic in Rose’s chocolate orbs that lured her in, and Daphne wanted nothing more than to come closer, closer and closer, to be near, to be consumed.

“Oh… I’m glad…” The thought of Rose being discharged left a bittersweet feeling filled her lungs. Daphne fidgeted a little at that, and she tried to hide her lost look by staring at the sheet instead. It’s not that Daphne wasn’t happy for Rose. She did. She really did. But somehow, with Rose gone, there would be no goodnight kiss when they said goodbye for Rose to go back to her room. There would be no excuses for Daphne to stay close to Rose all the time. There would be no lingering touch, no Rose all the time. And that really put Daphne in the state of oblivion.

Believed it or not, but a week with Rose constantly by her side had put Daphne in a situation where she felt like she couldn’t stay away.

Daphne bit her lips, tried to suppress the urge to say something. Not to mention that she’s so worried to let Rose go anywhere alone. The man that assaulted her was still out there. What if he hurt Rose again and Daphne wasn’t there to help? What if this time she didn’t make it? What if…

A ton of What-ifs crashed down on Daphne and she was closed to hyperventilating again. She saw her knuckles turned white as she gripped the blanket. The fear bubbling in her was shimmering hot lava and it started to hurt. Shit. Daphne thought. She should really hire a therapist or else someday she would have killed herself.

But again, Rose’s warm touch pulled her out of the fuck up thought. Daphne looked up to see a small smile presented on those sweet lips of Rose. Anything and everything that was bothered her was gone in an instant.

“I might have trouble with my head right now, but I never failed to remember that I owe you a stunning dress, darling.” Rose’s eyes sparked a bit at that. Penelope might have filled her in about what Daphne told her about Rose and her business. “As soon as you are strong and well, drop by my store, okay? I will make you the most beautiful star on earth. That I can promise.”

Daphne rolled her eyes with a fond smile. Rose didn’t need to promise her because Daphne knew all too well what kind of magic Rose could do to make thing magical. Everything that woman touch was like a heaven sent. Not that Daphne was being biased but really, when this woman was free to express her brilliant mind, there was nothing could compare with her work of art.

And Daphne wouldn’t trade Rose for a Louis Vuitton. That spoke quite a great deal, non?

“Then I should just ask Popeyes for his wonderful can of recipe because I couldn’t wait to see it, my love.”

Daphne happily joked back without noticing she had accidentally used the endearing term. Rose seemed stunned, her eyebrows scrunched up a little like she’s having a headache and Daphne’s heart just stopped beating for once. Oh how stupid of her to even let that fell out of her damn lips. But it happened for just a moment because the smile was back, full force on Rose’s face. And Daphne let out a sigh of relief.

“Count on it, love.”

There was that ‘love’ with the trademark Irish lilt and something more behind it. And a shivered coursed through Daphne spine like a soft electricity.

This woman would be the dead of her.

“You could also drop by my apartment if your schedule gone hectic. My door always opened for you, darling.” Rose winked. The woman bloody winked at her and Daphne was speechless like a bloody fish on the hook. My God, was that flirting? Was that…? Oh my god! Daphne was smiling like an idiot now. She knew it. God forbid her, but to hell with all the guilt. She could only feel insanely lucky and happy to be with Rose.

“Although I didn’t remember how I got the IRS off my back and paid that enormous debt I had… But I guess I will figure it out soon enough. The doctor said this problem should only last for a while.”

Rose mumbled in wonder.

Daphne took Rose’s hand in her and gave it a reassuring kiss. Rose would be fine. It was all that matter to Daphne anyway. And if Rose remembered everything and asked Daphne to go the fuck away, Daphne would do it, just for Rose. If Rose’s happy, Daphne’s happy. End of discussion.

There was a quiet knock on her door that pulled Daphne’s attention away from Rose. There stood Penelope and an apologetic look on her face. Daphne’s spirit sunken but Rose perked up and glowed like a Christmas light.

“Penny, dear!” The older woman waved happily at the newcomer.

“Hi, Ms. Weil.” Penelope careful casted a glance at a suddenly very dark and bitter Daphne. “It’s time to go back to your room, the doctor is going to check you soon.”

“Oh, right. I’m going now.” Rose nodded and gripped her cane with her free hand. When she realized the other was still grasped tightly in Daphne’s palm, she softened and gave Daphne a soft squeeze.

“I’ll be back before you know it, okay?”

Her voice was so warm and sweet and Rose was looking at her with those eyes that could hung the moon and stars, so Daphne reluctantly let go of her hand and looked at the sheet again. She sighed internally. God, even this goodbye was hard for her. How could she cope everyday after?

“Hey…” A slender finger lifted her chin up and Daphne couldn’t contain a hitch in her breath. Rose was so close. Their faces were only inches apart as the older woman leaned in and gave her a sweet, lingering kiss on the left corner of her mouth. It was dangerously close to her lips and Daphne blushed so hard she would die right then and there. All she could answer was a inadequate ‘mhmm?’

Rose soft laughed filled her ears as the woman gave her earlobe a peck. “I’m not going anywhere, my darling. Don’t pout or someone might steal you away.”

One last quick kiss on her forehead and Rose backed away, into Penelope waiting hands. If Daphne wasn’t so stunned, she would be jealous. But she couldn’t bring herself to do so as she was so submerged in the feeling of Rose’s soft lips on her skin. The kiss still lingered somehow. And Daphne smiled like a fool.

“Goodnight, my darling.”

“Goodnight, my love…”

Daphne sighed dreamily as the door closed once again. She dumbly giggled as she covered herself with the blanket.

It was the first day in days, Daphne felt like everything was going to be just fine.

Rose and she would be just fine.

\--- Chapter 3 End ---


	4. Chapter 4

It’s been a month after Daphne was discharged. Life had been nothing but busy. Between her work as a director and her therapy sessions, she rarely saw the girls or Rose. But Daphne still kept taps on them. After Rose went home, Daphne decided to hire a security team to watch out for Rose. Discretely, of course. She still received daily update on how everyone was doing and how Rose had been coping these days. To her relief, things went back to normal so quick.

Rose was still the passionate, workaholic fashion designer who only moved from her flat to her shop and so on.

The only difference was that now Daphne and Penelope were some sort of friends.

To Daphne’s surprise, the little girl was not so annoying to be around with. They were often spotted in the restaurant for breakfast or lunch since their workplaces were near by. Not that Daphne would stay in one place for long. Her film required her to move every now and then, but when she had time, she would accept the girl offer. Their newfound friendship caused a ruckus on the TMZ and Daily Mails and basically every social medias and presses in this fucking place.

Well, nothing was juicier than the two former rivalries being cozy buddies. This must be the biggest news in Hollywood, could almost overshadow the made up between Taylor Swift and Katy Perry. The press fawned over them like they’re a piece of meat, always asked questions after questions of why they suddenly being so close and civilized. None of the actresses said anything. What was the fun in that anyway?

But in truth, they bond over the shared worried for the one and only Rose Weil.

Not that Daphne forgot about her jealousy of Penelope being with Rose all the time after one night, but she also grateful that the girl could spend time with the once lonely woman who knew nothing but her work and work.

It’s nice to see that Rose had made some friends, aside from Johnny of course. That man kept appearing every now and then to crash their lunch. So they’re now somewhat forming the Rose’s protection squad. Daphne was not please when Penelope came up with that name, but she guessed her only choice was to live with it.

She came to find out that Johnny was Rose’s best of friend since they were very young. They used to be so closed but there was an incident that drove them apart. Or technically, Rose ran away from home and came to the US to have a fresh start and disconnected with her own family. They had a fight back then. Depp didn’t agree with Rose’s decision and everything went south. Her family wasn’t back down either. So she was all alone in the State. Depp was the only one here. Though they didn’t on frequently speaking term, but Depp still looked out for Rose when he could. And when Depp was going through his hell of a marriage, Rose offered to give him the access to her house in England to help him clear his head from all the false accusation.

It was astonishing, really, to know about Rose’s life before all of this. While Depp refused to tell her what had caused their relationship to almost fall apart, his story and actions from the day at the hospital made Daphne think about it and when she pierced them together, all the pieces fell into place. And she figured out that maybe, only maybe, Rose ran away from home because of someone, and that someone was the man Depp punched so hard that was hospitalized after that.

And possibly, that was the same man who did this to Rose.

Daphne didn’t tell Depp and Penelope that. She had to be sure. And once she found out, if she was right, that man would wish that Depp killed him in the hospital that day because Daphne would definitely feed him to the alligators, for real.

\---

It was Daphne’s break from all of the filming things and shit, so she took her day of and went to Lou’s flat, which was now the group hide out, to attend their annual girls’ night. Daphne had missed several nights due to her business. Actually, she hadn’t come since the day she got out of the hospital. As she said, life was hectic, and she had a lot to deal with after her break down. There was presses to handle and her film to get on with to meet the deadline.

She had missed a lot of things and she was planning to catch on with that.

However, as she strutted in, she didn’t expect to see Rose sitting there in her usual spot with an icepack on her eyes, just like the first day she came to this house. It was nostalgic. And Daphne couldn’t move from her spot at the door. She didn’t realize that until Constance shouted: “Oi, dude, you’re letting the cold seeping in! Close the damn door!”

At that, Rose took her icepack off and gave her the warmest smile. Daphne’s knees went weak. She closed the door and stumbled inside without saying anything. God, what should she say? Her inner self was having a quarrel. Did Rose remember? Oh God, did Rose remember her now? When was that happened? Did she miss out that much? Why didn’t anyone tell her anything about it? And why did Rose have to look so good with her stupid old dress? Oh God, she was so fucked!

“Darling, welcome home.”

As she stumbled in, Rose opened her arms and Daphne wasted no time to fall in her embrace. She greedily inhaled the scent of sweet vanilla and chocolate in her lung as she hugged Rose tight. God, this was her home. Rose was her home. Everything felt so good, so right, so magical and Daphne felt like she was on a high. She didn’t want to let go. Rose didn’t either. She allowed Daphne to sink into her when she woven her hand in Daphne’s hair as she did so many times before. She let Daphne nuzzled her neck when she whispered sweet nothing in Daphne’s ears.

Oh… Daphne could stay like this forever.

“Hard day at work? Love?” Daphne quietly nodded in Rose’s neck, refused to be separated from Rose. The older woman chuckled and gave her a sweet kiss on the cheek. “Must be really tired for the great Daphne Kluger to be this clingy.” She teased.

“To you, I always am…” Daphne muffled. She didn’t think Rose could hear her. But the purring in Rose’s chest indicate the difference.

“Oh love, I’m flattered.” Her rumbling laugh was the loveliest thing in the world and Daphne would like to hear more. More of Rose’s laugh, more of Rose, please.

They stayed like that for awhile when Daphne heard Lou’s voice: “Alright, lovebirds. This is girls’ night, not the night to throw some lovey dovey thingy.” Daphne rolled her eyes and reluctantly let go of Rose. The blonde designer only let her when she gave one last kiss on Daphne’s forehead, which was somewhat their thing now, after the hospital days. Daphne felt her heart swelled impossibly bigger. She didn’t know if Rose remembered anything, but this, by far, the best day of her entire life.

“Lou’s right. At least come say hi first, will you? It was like yesterday when you barged through that door and scared the shit out of us.” Tammy complained.

Nine pitched in with a matter of fact voice: “You should turn that dramatic side of ya down a notch.” and Debbie raised her martini glass at that. The action in which made Daphne scoffed. “The scene only has an effect when it’s played once, not for the third time, hun.”

Well now Daphne felt like she was being attacked by the majority.

“Now listen here bitches” She started. The retorts were ready to be fired. “Is this how you welcome an old friend of you?” Then she directed the next sentence at Debbie: “And that’s rich, coming from a woman who always has a flair of dramatic like you, Ocean. Did you accidently forget about the time you and your precious Lou broke into my apartment just for the fucking stupid plan that I’d known since the beginning?”

Debbie only shrugged, but a smirk was there on her lips. The Ocean didn’t feel sorry at the very least.

“I gave you millions and millions of dollar in return, did I not?”

“Only when I helped you slip through that dude’s hands!”

“Now don’t be so petty.”

“Say you!”

“Alright now, kids! Time out!” Lou called out in a what should be irritated voice and Debbie raised an eyebrow at her fellow criminal slashed soulmate. Lou gave her a stern look and the Ocean woman shrugged again. But still, she looked down to her little paper, leaving Daphne alone.

Now that the guilt trip was over, Daphne turned to a very amused Rose Weil and found herself timidly smiling like an idiot. That was pretty much everything she could do with Rose these days because words somehow failed her and she’s fucking whipped.

However, as happy as she was right then, she couldn’t shake away the question that was bubbling inside her chest like poison. She knew the moment of confrontation would come sooner or later. She just wanted to make the best out of it and enjoy as many normal time with Rose as possible before getting to the real deal and possibly lost Rose forever. She had ignored this long enough and it was eating her from the inside.

Better let it out than keep it in.

She finally woke up the courage to ask: “Rosie, love… how much do you remember?”

Daphne held her breath as she waited for the answer. Rose had that pensive look on her face again. The designer had that a lot these days. It was almost like she’s changed somehow.

“Well, not as much as I want, I guess…”

_‘Now what does that suppose to mean!?’_ Daphne screamed inside.

“When you’re too busy being out there, the girls filled me in with all the blank gap they could. They told me about the heist and how I paid my debt. They told me we were good friends…” The designer smiled a little. She looked like she’s lost in her memory. “As they told me, everything started to fall back into place but there’s still something missing…”

“Oh…” Daphne whispered quietly.

“But I know for a fact that whatever it was between us, it was wonderful.” Rose’s hand found Daphne’s tense shoulder and rubbed it soothingly. “Whatever it was, I’m determined to remember… because darling, I have a feeling that you’re too important for me to lose.”

At that, Rose leaned down to seal her word with a kiss on the crown of Daphne’s head. The kiss lingered for quite sometime. When they pulled away from each other, the girls gawked at them again. Rose had that decency to blush but Daphne, ever the brat with nasty attitude threw them a glare that screamed ‘pissed off’ and reached for her wine in which Constance had gracefully filled to the brink.

Sipping the bitter liquid, Daphne contemplated about what she’s going to do next. On one hand, she wanted everything to stay this way. But the reasonable part in her kept telling her to come clean, that this was nothing but a false sense of security, that she was somehow disappointing Rose again. This was her second chance to make things right. She was determined to not fuck this up.

Daphne had made a lot of big decision in her life. But none of them could compare to this. This was a moment her happiness, her friendship, her everything depended on. It was not a thing to make lightly.

“Hey, whatever you’re trying to do, sleep on it first. You have plenty of time to think.” Lou told Daphne as she refilled her half empty glass. “And bring that thing with you to the table. Dinner is ready.”

She gave Daphne’s shoulder a little squeeze before wandering to Debbie’s side. The two immediately caught in a hush conversation. It’s just their daily thing, plotting crime, flirting, being with each other but not as a couple. Daphne snickered at that. She wondered how much more time would it take them to finally come to sense and snog already.

With Lou’s advice, Daphne relaxed a little. After all, this was her unwind night, so why not just have some fun and catch up with her ladies? The workload and every other pressing problems would still be there tomorrow. And she would deal with it tomorrow.

Then Daphne sauntered to the table, letting herself be tugged by the arm to sit right next to Rose at the middle of the table and enjoyed whatever heavenly meal Amita had prepared for them. All night, she was with Rose. A little touch here and there. Rose tried to steal Daphne some salad while Daphne sneaked a Nutella bunch on Debbie’s plate for Rose. Their leader noticed that too late and Daphne earned a halfhearted glare. Like Daphne was afraid. She pulled a face at Debbie and happily munched her salad – well, not so ‘salad’ anymore since Rose kept adding more and more elements into it.

Thank God some part of Rose still remembered Daphne had glucose intolerant. 

They finished the night with an ungodly amount of wine and alcohol and a poker game, which involved a lot of cheating and screaming fit coming from Tammy at Constance. At the end of the night, Daphne was almost certain that Tammy had lost her third watch she wore when she was in this house, so did Lou and Amita. She took her time watching Nine Ball frantically searched for her laptop of which had been hidden by Tammy at the beginning. Debbie was the only one who got a grip of herself and stumbled with an excused to get up stair. Lou was hot on her heels.

All of them was hammered, so Daphne, being the only one who was still sobered, took it as her mission to call them cabs to go home.

When it came to Rose, Daphne reluctantly held the designer in her arms. Her Rose was having a little bit too much. Her cheeks were adorably flushed, and her eyes were glassy. She snuggled close to Daphne chest and let out a small yawn.

“Mm tired…” Rose mumbled. Her accent was stronger than ever when she was a little tipsy and sleepy and it was fucking cute and it made Daphne wanted to plant god knew how many kisses on that lovely face. But she held herself back. Not right now. Daphne sighed quietly.

She cradled Rose in her arms as they sat on the huge sofa. The movie star drew soothing circle behind Rose’s back as they were deep in their embrace. She didn’t want to break the comfortable silence, but she murmured to Rose anyway: “Let me call you a ride home, is that okay, Rosie?”

“Home…?” Rose responded as she blinked slowly. Her bleary eyes looked up at Daphne with a soft confusion.

“Uh huh, your flat…”

Rose scrunched her eyebrows a little. Her lips form a little pout that never failed to make Daphne’s heart do a flip. The designer looked as if she was considering, but in her drowsy state, there was so much one can do. After what felt like several minutes, Rose’s small fist made way to Daphne’s jacket and gripped it lightly.

She shook her head and a small “nuh uh” came out. The designer put her head on Daphne again and tried to scoot in impossibly closer. A little puff of air hit Daphne’s neck and the movie star swore she could melt right then and there. Rose was so perfect and so goddamn cute like a blonde little koala.

“Okay, I’ll bring you to the spare room then…”

Just as the movie star made a move, Rose tighten her grip and let out a small whimper. Daphne bit her lips trying to stop herself from swooning. _‘please God, have mercy on my weaken soul.’_ Daphne silently prayed.

She leaned down to press a lingering kiss on Rose’s fluttering eyelashes.

“You will have a backache tomorrow if we don’t move, Rosie.” Daphne tried.

The blonde didn’t budge an inch.

“Please, my love…” The movie star was cooing. This was not the sight for the world to see. If the press got this, it would be priceless. Because why? Because Daphne Kluger never cooed at anything in her life, and she hated children to even begin with. Daphne Kluger was a badass bitch and the most respected one in Hollywood. And Daphne Kluger did not coo!

Well, things changed. With Rose, Daphne would coo as much as she please. Only for Rose to hear.

“Uh uh.” Rose was not giving in, either. For now, it could be safe to say that the small designer was practically in Daphne’s lap, clinging on to her like she afraid that Daphne would go away. God, as if Daphne could stay away.

So Daphne did what she rarely does. She compromised.

“Alright, my love, the sofa it is, then.”

Daphne was about to pick Rose up and laid her on the lush settee, but Rose out right whined and clung to her tighter. The designer let out a small cry in annoyance and Daphne immediately went back to her previous position. She held her breath as Rose struggled to hold her. When the smaller woman found the comfortable place on her body again, she let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Okay… This wasn’t so bad after all. She would just book a massage session for Rose tomorrow when the designer got out of work then. And Daphne mused to herself: this was not a bad way to spend the night. Not at all.

The movie star discretely showered Rose with little kisses. From her curly blonde hair to her proud cheek bones, from her forehead to her cute little nose. The action in which made Rose shuffled, but a smile was unconsciously tugged on her luscious lips. Daphne could only bite her own to suppress the urge to kiss Rose. God, why must you test me right now. Daphne held back a groan. It felt like heaven, but also it felt like hell to resist this one in a lifetime temptation.

Daphne knew that this was her second chance. Having Rose in her arms like this was something she’d dreamt about for god knew how long now. She knew that if Rose didn’t lose her memory, this would never happen. Rose would never willingly be so close with her like this. Not after the fact that Daphne had accused Rose for being a liar. So right now, with Rose in her arms, Daphne wished for the time to stop. She wished for the clock to stop turning. She wished she could live in this moment forever, to hold, to love, to cherish Rose and never let the woman go.

As if Daphne could turn back time…

As if Daphne could erase her deeds…

As if Daphne could savor this moment forever…

She couldn’t. So Daphne was content with this. She held Rose a little tighter, kissed Rose a little sweeter, caress Rose a little softer. In this moment, the world was theirs. So she loved Rose a little harder. Because God knew what tomorrow might bring them…

Just when Daphne thought Rose was sound asleep, she reached out, trying to take that forgotten blanket on the floor but a quiet, broken plea filled her ears.

“Don’t go…” Rose sobbed softly. Her words got muffle because of Daphne’s shirt.

“Don’t go…” It sounded so desperate that Daphne had to grit her teeth to stop herself from crying.

Instead, she whispered softy to Rose’s ear, her own voice was threatened to break: “I’m not going anywhere… I’m here, I’m here, my love… I’m here.” She repeated that like a mantra until Rose fell asleep again. Just then, she allowed herself to cry. Drop after drops silently fell on her face.

_Oh sweet, darling Rose… How could I go anywhere when my soul is right here with you? How could I go when my heart called for you? How could I go, when you are my lifeline, my home sweet home? I’d stay forever if that’s what you please. What I’m truly afraid is for you to ask me to let you go…_

Daphne didn’t know when she fell asleep that night. But her arms still hugged protectively around Rose’s waist, never once letting go.

\--- Chapter 4 End ---

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading.


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